The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Traditional truck boxes are typically formed as an integral unibody construction that relies on the box side material and construction to achieve overall structural performance. To achieve cost and weight reduction targets as well as accommodate design options such as box inner panels having storage compartments, plastic is becoming a desired alternative material to the traditional metal used for inner portions of truck beds. Substituting plastic for steel reduces box stiffness and results in higher stress magnitudes in the truck box floor, cross-members, pillars, and stringers.
New truck designers also wish to have increased design flexibility regarding the materials used to form the outer box panels as well. A box design that accommodates dimensional variants in truck box size with low impact on tooling and investment cost may also be beneficial. Accordingly, It is desirable to have a truck box design that minimizes the contribution of the box side material and construction to overall structural performance. These efforts allow for substitution of alternative box geometries and materials that provide less stiffness than the traditional metal boxes. This results in greater flexibility in truck box design, as well as lower cost.